The Boston Bruins will sport some new looks Thursday when they face off against the New Jersey Devils.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy revealed Thursday after morning skate some lineup changes he’ll make in an effort to recover the momentum Boston lost Tuesday in its defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Cassidy will replace the third defensive pairing of Connor Clifton and Derek Forbort with Mike Reilly and Josh Brown, who will be making his Bruins debut.
Boston’s forward lines also contain two changes. Craig Smith will miss the game due to illness. Marc McLaughlin, whom the Bruins signed out of Boston College on March 15, makes his NHL debut and is expected to fill in for Smith as right wing on the third line. Nick Foligno will sit out due to a lower-body injury. Anton Blidh will replace him as fourth-line left wing.
Linus Ullmark will start as Bruins goaltender, with Jeremy Swayman serving as his backup.
Legendary former Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask will be in the spotlight Thursday night prior to Bruins-Devils. He’ll hold his retirement press conference at 5:30 p.m. ET, and NESN will air it live. Full coverage of Bruins versus Devils will follow, starting at 6:30 p.m. Rask will perform a ceremonial puck drop at 7 p.m., and the start of the game immediately will follow.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Devils:
BOSTON BRUINS (41-20-5)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall–Erik Haula–David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic–Charlie Coyle–Marc McLaughlin
Anton Blidh–Tomas Nosek–Curtis Lazar
Hampus Lindholm–Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk–Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly–Josh Brown
Linus Ullmark
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (24-37-5)
Yegor Sharangovich–Jack Hughes–Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar–Nico Hischier–Jesper Bratt
Andreas Johnsson–Jesper Boqvist–Miles Wood
Jimmy Vesey–Michael McLeod–Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler–Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves–Damon Severson
Ty Smith–P.K. Subban
Nico Daws
Presented by Berkshire Bank. The official Bank of NESN’s Boston Bruins Coverage.
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